LED Blacklight vs Fluorescent: 10 Differences

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There are different types of lights like LED blacklight vs fluorescent light, UV light, CFL etc. Each kind of light has different properties than others, so different lights have different usage. In the article, the difference between LED blacklight and fluorescent is illustrated.

What is LED blacklight?

LEd means Light Emitting Diode.The light produced by LED when electric current flows through the microchips in the bulb. LEDs can be a single or cluster of diodes. It is a separate bulb or built into a fixture.

LED Blacklight bulbs is the latest technology in which LED filament in the bulb produces ultraviolet (UV) light. The light of any wavelength can be produced with the help of LEDs. 

The LED blacklight is used to produce optimal black light effects which have the range 385-400 nm. 

The less heat is produced as some LED Blacklight  light contains the material which cools faster after being disconnected from the power source and some has ceramic heat dissipation technology which takes off the  heat produced in a very less time. 

The LED Blacklight has many applications such as detection of stains, glowing effects in parties, authentication of documents, fake currency detection, medical treatment and many more. 

Depending upon the applications, LED Blacklight has different designs so that they can be used in different situations. (e.g. the design of scorpio hunting LED Black light is different from the light which is used in parties). LEd Blacklight is flexible, safe, energy and moneysaving.The LED Blacklight guarantee is around 50,000 hours. 

The LED Blacklight is the customer’s choice as it is long lasting, more energy efficient and cools faster than other alternatives after switching off. The only disadvantage of the light is uneven illumination, which can be overcome by choosing high quality LED Blacklight.

What is fluorescent light?

There are three main types of fluorescent lights: cold cathode, hot cathode and electroluminescent. 

Each fluorescent light consists of a fluorescent lamp, ballast and starter system. 

The fluorescent light is a certain low pressure mercury vapor gas-discharge light. Inside the tube, the light has fluorescent coating which converts ultraviolet emission into light energy. 

The electrical charge which runs through inner mercury vapour in the tube, the electricity excites gas and consequently,  generates UV rays of wavelength 365 nm. 

For ignition, fluorescent light requires a voltage pulse or electrode inside the bulb. In earlier fluorescent light, it is required to evaporate the internal gas into plasma, it is known as warm-up period. But in the latest model, instantaneous starting technologies are introduced for quick start. 

The ballast which is a magnetic or electrical device balanced controls the voltage requirement of the bulb. More voltage is required to produce the light in old fluorescent bulb.Sometimes, the bulb goes out due to ballast  providing voltage which exceeds the fixed resistance. 

There are two types of fluorescent light, one is tube light and Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL). The lifespan of fluorescent light is around 10,000 hours. 

The main drawback of fluorescent light is that it is  less efficient over time. Beside this, fluorescent light may cause eye strain, headache due to flicker of high frequency, disturbance in  other electronics due to creating radio interference by  poorly designed ballast.

Comparison between LED Blacklight vs Fluorescent light:

The comparison between LED Black light and Fluorescent light is done by following factors which is explain briefly as follows:

  1. Technology: From the small portion of the visible light spectrum, LED emits electromagnetic radiation which does not produce waste heat, fluorescent light has an internal phosphor coating which emits UV radiation and transforms it into visible light. 
  2. Cost: As LED Blacklight is more energy efficient and less heat produced so it has a longer lifespan than fluorescent light. Because of these features, the LED Blacklight is costlier than fluorescent light. 
  3. Life Span: The LED Blacklight can last around 60,000 hours and fluorescent light can span 10,000 hours. 

I.e. Lifespan of LED blacklight is 6 times the fluorescent light.  

  1. Consumption of Energy: LED Blacklight needed 6 W of power while fluorescent light needed 14 W Power.This means that LED Blacklight consumes less energy than fluorescent light.
  2. Ability of light: LED Blacklight focuses on the particular area instead of spreading on wide space. Fluorescent light is useful to light the whole room. Depending upon the ability of light, LED Black light is used in vehicle headlight while fluorescent light is used in home lighting.
  3. Hazardous Factor:  As fluorescent light has a small amount of mercury, when the bulb breaks, it can be poisonous. Since LED Blacklight does not contain mercury and poisonous gas, it is safe to use as compared to fluorescent light.
  4. Correlation between colour temperature: The method of describing the characteristics of visible light from various emitters is called colour temperature.The colour temperature of 2200-6000 k is available in LED’s option.Whereas,in fluorescent light, colour range depends upon internal phosphor coating in the light.
  5. Color Rendering Index (CRI): The measurement of the ability of light to tell about the actual object’s colour over an ideal light or natural light. The CRI values between 65-95 are available in LED light and fluorescent light have 62-80 CRI value range.
  6. Emission: In LED blacklight, most of the energy consumed is converted into visible light. But in fluorescent light, 15% of energy is lost by production of heat and energy dissipation.
  7. Characteristics of failure:Over the time, LED Blacklight is dimming gradually whereas fluorescent light can fail by cycling phenomenon i.e. light goes on and off automatically.

You can read about Guide To Know About Direct Wire Puck Lights

Conclusion

In the article, depending upon the various factors such as technology, cost, lifespan etc, comparison between LED Blacklight vs fluorescent light is explored. 

The above comparison concluded that LED blacklight is an expensive choice than fluorescent one.  But the advanced features in LED Blacklight, made it a better choice than fluorescent light.

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